Dreaming Wide Awake
by Corvus no Genmu
Summary: S-Arc. "When I thought that I fought this war alone... You were there by my side on the frontline. When I thought that I fought without a cause. You gave me a reason to try..."
1. Prophecy

DISCLAIMER: All copyrighted materials belong to their respected owners.

* * *

Four years to the day ago, I wrote one of the few novels that I've managed to complete, and one that while not as recognizable as The Familiars of Zero, I'm still proud of to this day. Two years ago, I tried to rewrite that same story with a revised field, changing some key moments and allowing others to remain. I failed and for that I do apologize because, into the second chapter I realized I didn't _want_ to rewrite the same story again, I wanted to write an entirely new story featuring the same cast but in a different point in time. Thus, this story is born. This story will be different than its predecessor, the characters will not be carbon copies of what they once were, and the powers, though similar, are vastly different than before. With all that said, I hope that you enjoy:

* * *

**Dreaming Wide Awake**

By Corvus no Genmu

* * *

00: Prophecy

"_To push back the wind… is such a thing even possible? To change the way it blows, to force it back. To not accept what it brings. I too want to push it back… But I am too afraid to try._" – Piro

The sky was red as blood as it should be with the great and terrible tears across it like fresh wounds made from wicked claws, a black eye that was once the shining sun glaring down at the wretched landscape below. Towers that once stood like trees of transparent glass and unbreakable steel were replaced by heaps of rubble and half-leaning monstrosities that teetered on the edge of oblivion. Cars decorated the streets but unlike the buildings around them, there was no haphazard design in their locations, rather that they appeared as though they had simple been parked as they were, like empty shells on the city streets. In point of fact, that was the most daunting thing about this desolate city, that there wasn't a single person there to see its dying breath.

No one but her.

She was standing in transfixed horror, her eyes wavering like a cornered beast, trying to find something, _anything_, to bring hope back to this terrible place. People lay scattered about her, none having fallen to the ground more that they simply laid themselves down to sleep, too tired to live another dark day, another moonless night. She ran through the crowd of sleeping dead, trying to find at least one person awake, one person to stand up against whatever caused this horror to affect the world.

Her eyes fell upon eight figures and a small spark of hope was lit in her heart for though she did not recognize all of the gathered women, she was well aware of the power in them. The majority shined with the power of the elements themselves but the strongest of the gathered eight, a pair too alike to not be kin, shined like miniature suns compared to the others in their midst.

She raced to them, calling to them in the soundless void and choked on the words that could not be heard. The flame of hope had been extinguished by the cold waters of truth. The heroes were dead, turned to breakable stone, forever frozen in their defiant stances against whatever force brought them to an end, the light of their magic but a faint cinder in the void of their souls.

Looking around her, she saw that what she had presumed as abstract pieces of rubble were in fact people, all turned to stone just like her friends but unlike them, the people were caught frozen in fear, all running away from the same terrible thing. Her eyes shot upwards as a terrible nothingness appeared on the horizon, a fierce gale shooting past her as black tendrils writhed and drew closer.

In the soundless city, the sound of church bells ringing was startling, even more so because of its source. Whirling behind her, the young maiden saw a shining star, the only light in this bleak and terrible place. It chimed once more before splitting itself asunder into three shining stars that shone with holy brilliance. For a moment, she thought this miracle had come to help but no, it was but a figment of hope for the trio of lights vanished away from the nothingness, uncaring for the poor souls they had abandoned and left behind.

She collapsed to her knees, looking back to the approaching nothingness and watched with tears falling from her eyes as it reached the city limits and with the barest touch, tore whole building asunder with cars sent flying as though smacked by a giant unseen hand, the bodies of the dead proved to be just as brittle as the stone that covered them for they had too had shattered to dust before even that was swallowed by the merciless nothingness.

The ground suddenly shook to the impact of charging footsteps, monstrously large footsteps. Loud roars shook the air like a primordial symphony and the expanding void paused, silken tendrils hesitating before a multitude of energies flew overhead. Powers beyond mortal comprehension impacted against the void and it twisted in a soundless scream, flinching away from the onslaught that would not end so long as it dared to continue further.

Roars of great beasts echoed once more, a brilliant flash of light shining, and nine armored figures appeared to stand beside the frozen soldiers. The nothingness trembled and rose swiftly in a terrible fury, charging forward with greater speed for no longer did these interlopers frighten it into submission. No, they had earned its rage, its inhuman hatred, and would pay the price for them with their lives. The armored warriors raised their weapons high, roaring in challenge to this unspoken decree and raced forward to meet the void headlong.

Footsteps echoed from behind her and she turned with wide, fearful eyes to see three more warriors approaching her, one, a man, with hair like midnight black and eyes of blood red, the other, a woman, whose hair was white like freshly fallen snow and eyes the blue of ocean waters, and lastly, a girl of pale skin and ashen hair with emerald eyes that gleamed despite the encroaching void. The three moved as one to stand before her and looked as though they were scrutinizing her though their faces were empty of emotion.

A scream of agony started to turn her eyes, but the hands of the adults caught her chin and forced her eyes to their own as power exploded behind her, buildings crashing down like fallen trees. A car went flying past, a tendril of oblivion lashing it further on as a beam of fire sliced it asunder but still the two held their grip and stared deep into her eyes before they spoke as one.

First spoke the black, "_Never forgive._"

Second spoke the white, "_Never condemn._"

"_The Damned,_" snarled the man.

"_The Innocent,_" whispered the woman.

The attacker growled, "_The bad times…_"

The defender wept, "_The good times…_"

And last did they speak together as one, "_But never forget…_ _your defiance in the face of Silence._"

Only then did the emerald-eyed child deign to speak, her words like the whisper of death, "_Always remember…_"

* * *

**In the next dream...**

_"The King"_


	2. The King

DISCLAIMER: All copyrighted materials belong to their respected owners.

* * *

Four years to the day ago, I wrote one of the few novels that I've managed to complete, and one that while not as recognizable as The Familiars of Zero, I'm still proud of to this day. Two years ago, I tried to rewrite that same story with a revised field, changing some key moments and allowing others to remain. I failed and for that I do apologize because, into the second chapter I realized I didn't _want_ to rewrite the same story again, I wanted to write an entirely new story featuring the same cast but in a different point in time. Thus, this story is born. This story will be different than its predecessor, the characters will not be carbon copies of what they once were, and the powers, though similar, are vastly different than before. With all that said, I hope that you enjoy:

* * *

**Dreaming Wide Awake**

By Corvus no Genmu

* * *

01: The King

"_Thinking of you, wherever you are… We pray for our sorrows to end, and hope that our hearts will blend. Now I will step forward to realize this wish. And who knows: starting a new journey may not be so hard, or maybe… it has already begun. There are many worlds and they share the same sky – one sky, one destiny…_" – Kairi

Rei Hino was as much an oracle as she was a medium. That is to say, she did not perceive her visions by force of will or conscious choice but rather they often came to her through dreams in the light of the moon or as startling images across a holy fire. However unwilling the dream visions were, Rei could at least control what she perceived through the sacred fires of her temple. Visions such as those could be wild, even chaotic, but with enough focus she could keep them locked on the present rather than a forgotten past and an inconceivable future. Why, she could even trap the memories of her dream visions in the flames and see the order behind the chaos. However… no matter how hard she focused her energies, Rei could not perceive the depths of her latest dream vision.

Its clarity was clear as crystal in the sacred fires but there was no more understanding to them now than when she first bore witness to them. The city, no, the entire _world_ nothing but a dead husk with its destroyer approaching on the horizon… Her friends, dead and turned to hardened stone as they stood defiant against the force… The shattered pieces of holy light that _fled_ from the destruction… The horrible monsters that charged to their doom regardless of the consequences so long as they died _fighting _against that… that…

_Eternal Silence…_

Rei's hands paused in their motions, the blazing fires before her dimming down to normalcy, the vision vanishing into smoke lapped away by burning tongues of a mundane fire. There was a light in the young shrine maiden's eyes that spoke of renewed hope though her mouth was set in a frown of concern and her shoulders trembled with a whispering of fear. Though she knew not who or what they were, Rei knew those monsters that had appeared to fight against the Eternal Silence were more than appeared for she saw something in the eyes of the monster leading the charge, the King as she subconsciously labeled him.

In his eyes and the eyes of his brethren… there was something almost… _human_…

Rei sighed and pushed herself to her feet, suddenly finding the once soothing warmth of the shrine's sacred fire too stifling to soothe her troubles away. Stepping outside, she glanced up at the midday sky, taking some comfort in its natural blues and cottony clouds of white that drifted lazily to wherever the winds may take them. Still… some extra reassurance would not be too bad would it?

"Twenty-secen…" She read on the drawing stick and leaned into the small shrine outing to grab the matching omikuji. Taking the small scroll in hand, Rei leaned back and carefully unrolled it. Whatever hope she had to gain from the fortune was dashed and she frowned at its simple, one-worded message. She headed over to the nearby cherry tree whose branches were already quite full with fortunes. Just as she finished tying her own amongst them, Rei's ESP kicked in loud and clear with a simple, but straightforward, message.

_GET AWAY!_

She leapt back by sheer reflex and not a moment too soon as the cherry tree twisted and turned about itself before it tore itself free from the earth, a pained groan growing into an unearthly shriek of agony. A pillar of dark light spread outwards from the tree until it was a veritable tower of demonic energy as the tree shifted in a humanoid shape. The light died away to reveal a female monster with pale violet skin, dressed in a revealing kimono with a mock replica of the temple's bells and thick prayer rope atop her head like a bow. Like the shoes on her feet and the cuffs that adorned her wrists and ankles, her hair was composed of wood though it moved like human hair would atop her head.

"_MIKUJI!_"

"W-What the?" Rei gasped at the sight of the kaijin. Its energies were nothing like what she had felt from the youma of Queen Beryl's realm and she knew for certain that the Black Moon Family's droids were nothing more but rusted scrap. The appearance of this creature could only mean that her vision, however far ahead into the future it might be, was beginning to come to pass.

"Your heart… Your pure heart!" Mikuji smiled, beckoning at Rei. "Give me your pure heart!"

Rei's hands clenched as she glared at the kaijin, the fires of defiance clear in her amethyst eyes. She glanced back at the temple, knowing that her grandfather would surely have heard the noise if not felt the massive demonic energies of this creature. She couldn't risk him getting involved even if she managed to transform before he charged in with ofuda blazing in his hands.

She had to lead this thing away.

"You want my heart?" She asked Mikuji. "Well, just try and take it!"

Without another word, she took a page out of Usagi's book and ran like her life, or rather her heart, depended on it. Mikuji watched the girl run with a playful smile on her face, honestly amused by shrine maiden's antics. She slowly began to rise in the air and, with another fierce scream of her name, shot after her prey. Caught in the updraft of her flight; the little paper fortune that had led to her birth fluttered past.

_Misfortune._

* * *

The streets of Juuban were busy as always, and how could they not be? Being a district of Tokyo and practically within spitting distance of its famous tower, it is a district that was always bustling with activity day or night. Though the sun was still high in the sky and the weather all but perfect, there was a strange feeling in the air that tugged at primordial instincts more specifically that something was wrong and it was best for all involved to get as far away from that something as possible. Unknowingly following this instinct, many of the citizens of Juuban went long out of their way to avoid the nearby Hikawa Shrine.

Except for him.

The boy was quite tall for his age, having only turned seventeen the last autumn. His clothes were of simple make and would blend better with the darkness of the night. His hair was a strange shade of grey, almost like charcoal really, and was parted down the middle where a few choice locks were made to stick up like fuzzy spikes brushing back along his head. He was not overly muscular, built rather like a swimmer but by the way he moved, every motion swift and confident, he was at the very least well practiced in the martial arts. The way he carried himself spoke well of the danger one would be in if they dared to incur his wrath. Especially when one looked into his eyes for those orbs were not of common coloration, even for Japan. No, his eyes were like flames, colored in a burning orange that no matter the expression on his face, shone with the intensity of his true emotions.

His name is Eiji Tanaka and he is curious.

He too had sensed the strange wrongness in the air and had disobeyed whatever force that bade the lesser-minded folk to leave the area by following it to its source though that was more a secondary concern. His true reason for heading towards the Hikawa Shrine was a simple if not foolhardy venture on his part. Whatever forces that kept the mundane citizens away from danger seemed quite capable of dulling their senses as well, specifically the common one that allowed even a child to find a certain pattern to the kaijin attacks. Eiji had followed the path towards danger not for the chance encounter with a kaijin, but a more-likely meeting between himself and the so-called defenders of love and justice.

The Sailor Senshi.

Crimson light flashed through the flames of Eiji's eyes before the air was rent by a silent scream shortly followed by a beam of black light exploding upwards to the heavens at the top of the long stairs that led to the shrine proper. A young girl screamed as another female voice, distinctly inhuman, laughed at her torment as the chase began. Eiji stood halfway up the stairs in thought before glancing back at the street and, seeing it strangely vacant for an otherwise busy afternoon, made his choice. A mental command and a belt appeared strapped to his waist over his shirt and pants both.

"**_READY?_**"

It was a dull gray in color and seemed to be made entirely of metal components save for the buckle which resembled the skull of some carnivorous dinosaur with jaws gaping open as a jewel rested upon the bottom jaw, pulsing to the rhythm of a heartbeat.

"Henshin." Eiji intoned, snapping the jaws down. The eyes of the Spirit Rizer flashed azure as it echoed the command.

"**_HENSHIN!_**"

* * *

Rei ran through the trees along the outer wall of the shrine, dodging branches and attacks alike until she managed to gain enough distance to take the risk of attempting a transformation before the kaijin caught up to her. Transformation wand in hand, Rei prepared to call out the spell when the kaijin came soaring through the wood like a bat fresh out of Hell. The monster's hands clutched her wrists in a vice before melting into stone and keeping her arms in place against the barrier wall of the shrine. The force of the blow was startling enough for Rei to drop the transformation wand to the ground, leaving her as a mere human against a kaijin of remarkable power and skill.

Mikuji floated back from her prey with a smirk as new hands grew from the wooden cuffs on her wrists. "Your fortune today is VERY BAD!"

Appearing in the air beside the kaijin like some form of wraith was a woman dressed in a short, business-like red dress that revealed enough of her chest to be almost slutty if she didn't somehow maintain a strange, alien regality to her person. Phasing fully into place, the woman would be almost human were she not floating in the air beside the kaijin as she spoke to it. "Daimon Mikuji, there might be a talisman hidden in this girl. Take her pure heart."

"Daimon…?" whispered Rei. Not a youma and certainly not a droid… and if this kaijin's purpose was to take her pure heart, how was it to do so? Rei's question was answered as Mikuji pulled open her kimono to reveal a black star tattooed to her purple skin just above the valley of her cleavage. With a cry of her name, the star came alive with the same dark light that birthed her and shot forth a beam that hit Rei straight in her breast.

The young miko screamed as it felt like her very heart was being torn asunder while the daimon's master smiled with growing satisfaction. "It's only a matter of time before we see results. Still, better to not count all your eggs before they hatch I suppose. Mikuji! I shall go seek other humans that have the possibility of holding talismans." With that, she teleported away, leaving Rei to her suffering as a black orb coalesced before her chest as Mikuji increased the energy output of the beam until, at long last, she got what she wanted.

With a sound not unlike the sound of an angel's bell, the darkness was washed away by a globe of light that condensed together to form a crystalline cross, the material embodiment of Rei's pure heart. The pure heart crystal, shining from within by a blazing compassion, shone red in the light of the sun.

Mikuji smiled and beckoned the heart crystal to her as she gloated her victory. "A heart crystal this unique must hold a talisman!" However, before the crystal was even halfway towards her, she was suddenly pulled from behind by her rope-braid and slammed into the ground with earth shaking force. Before she had chance to even gasp in pain, Mikuji was kicked hard enough in the side that, had she any actual ribs, would have shattered them to pieces. As it was, the blow sent the daimon flying into the trunk of a tree with enough force to crack it in two.

She coughed blackish blue blood and rose unsteadily to her feet as the pure heart crystal was gently caught in the hands of her attacker. "The First One said this, _The heart may be freely given, but it can never be forcibly taken._ Tell me heart-snatcher, what do you hope to gain from taking this girl's heart besides my wrath?" Mikuji looked up and saw her assailant fully.

He stood tall, just an inch or so above six feet and was not too thick on the muscular side despite the charcoal colored portions of his armor, which in itself fit well with the pure obsidian of his leather-like bodysuit. The gauntlets on his arms flowed back in a strange organic, spike-like fashion similar to the scales of some primordial beast. The inch-long claws on the fingers accented this all-too well. The toes of his boots were decorated like the talons of a dinosaur, though they only jutted out just enough to lightly scrape against the earth.

Along the back of his body armor was a trio of small, maple leaf-shaped spikes, the biggest being no larger than a toddler's hand, which fell in rows along his spine. His helmet was shaped to resemble the head of some manner of carnivorous dinosaur with the pale blue lens clenched tightly in fanged jaws. He bore no weapon and his pale, ivory belt was empty save for two devices. One shaped like the skull of his helmet's true form clutching a pulsing jewel in its jaws, and a tiny circular device attached to his right side, marked with a series of numbered buttons.

"Who… are you…?" She gasped, clutching her side as the wooden cracks slowly started to reseal, trying to buy some time until she regenerated enough to bring true misfortune upon the interloper.

"I have earned many names throughout my years of service… but I prefer to label myself simply as Gojira." He reached down and pressed a series of numbers on Collar attached to his belt.

"**_3. 2. 1. ZERO!_**" The Spirit Rizer intoned as the spines on Gojira's back crackled with blue-tinted light, energy crackling like lightning between their sharpened points. The black warrior's visor lit up with that same ethereal light before unleashed a beam of radiation concentrated to such a high degree as to be seen by the naked eye. Mikuji had no idea what hit her and by the time she did, she was already toppling to the ground while her legs remained standing. Like a faulty picture coming back into proper place, Mikuji's remains snapped back to the proper form of a tree whose trunk had been burned in half.

Gojira watched as a small seed flowed through the smoldering remains of the trunk before it shattered on the ground and released a small smoky phantom that writhed in pain before vanishing like ash on the wind. The masked warrior regarded it for a moment before cocking his head slightly to better look over his shoulder at the shadowed canopy.

"Was there a reason you felt like standing on the sidelines while this girl suffered under that monster's clutches?"

Silence before the shortest of the pair hiding away in the shadows answered. "We need to see if that heart crystal contains a talisman."

"Yes, so I heard." Gojira agreed, "What then, would you do with this crystallization of a heart if it does contain one of these… talismans?"

"That is irrelevant." The tallest snapped.

"I see." Gojira whipped his arm out and sent the crystal flying through the air before it seamlessly fell back within its creator's chest.

"NO!" snapped the tallest. "You fool, do you even realize—" She was halted by the gentle hand of her companion, who met Gojira with her own shadowed glare.

"You're lucky that I was able to see that the crystal did not contain a talisman." With her words said, the pair vanished out of sight.

Gojira seemed almost amused by the young woman's departing words. "That's quite a lot of talk coming from a girl playing pretend in the art of war. It's too bad really… I wanted to see how they would fare against a Kamen Rider." He sighed before kneeling down beside Rei, touching her shoulder gently. "Hey, still with me here?"

Though incredibly groggy and weak from her ordeal, Rei had enough wits about her to focus her eyes upon her armored savior but not enough to speak up in time before Gojira suddenly snapped to his feet, turning back to face the sudden burst of energy he felt from behind followed by a very familiar voice crying out.

"Hold it right there!" Standing on the cooled, though still smoky remains of the tree trunk that once was a powerful daimon, Sailor Moon glared with righteous indignation upon Gojira like the heroine she was as she went full-out on her speech. "For love and justice, the pretty soldier in a sailor suit! I'm Sailor Moon! I won't forgive anyone for harassing a pure-hearted miko like you have done!"

_Oh no…_ thought Rei as she feebly started to push herself upright.

Just behind Sailor Moon appeared three more, similarly dressed young girls. They too similarly agreed with their leader and introduced themselves somehow in the process. Gojira looked them over slowly one at a time. _Sailor Venus, Sailor Moon, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Mercury… huh… and here I was hoping for the full set._

"So you're the Sailor Senshi." Gojira inclined his head to the side, crossing his arms over his chest. "Better late than never, eh…?"

"We're certainly on time to save that priestess from you, villain!" Sailor Moon shouted back.

Gojira shrugged, completely unconcerned with the blonde's assumptions of his character, "Four against one is hardly fair, wouldn't you say? Let's even up the odds." He reached down to the Spirit Rizer and gripped it tightly. "Advent." He twisted it around as the teeth ground sharply against the pulsing crystal until the skull-shaped device was completely upside down.

"**_ADVENT!_**" There was a sudden surge of power as Gojira's dorsal spines lengthened into a vaguely crystalline leaf-shape well over a foot in length but otherwise appeared no different at least to the eyes of the gathered Sailor Senshi. Still caught in the aftermath of having her pure heart ripped from her, Rei could swear she caught a glimpse of something hovering over Gojira's body like a ghostly apparition.

It stood on two muscular legs, barely ten feet tall at the shoulder, it was a spectral beast built for dominance of land and sea, a raw primordial fury flashing in its otherwise empty orbs. It was too defined in texture to be a mere illusion, but too translucent, too ghostly, to be a mere hologram. The dinosaurian's lips pulled back in a vicious grin, a mimic of the motions of its master. It was a creature that seemed strangely familiar but it wasn't until the Spirit Rizer spoke the final words to Gojira's command did she recognize it fully.

"**_RAISE UP THE KING._**"

It was the monster from her dreams.

Sailor Jupiter, not seeing the spectral beast and only noting the slight alteration to Gojira's armor, led the charge as electricity gathered around her tiara. "_Supreme Thunder!_" Lightning flashed through the air and impacted dead center against Gojira's torso. The black warrior took two large steps back from the force of the blow but did not appear hurt otherwise though both his fists were clenched tightly from the strain of holding back a growl of irritation.

"Lightning… Why is it always lightning?" He grumbled to himself before ducking as Sailor Jupiter followed her attack with a vicious right hook. He matched her with a vicious snap-kick that sent her flying through the air and skid along the ground only to find himself standing dead-center for Sailor Venus and her attack.

"_Crescent Beam!_" A thin beam of intense yellow light shot forth from the blonde senshi's finger and hit nothing but air as Gojira dodged out of the way at the last moment and spun tightly in place. Sailor Venus had enough time to blink before she was suddenly thrown aside as the Spectral System's tail slammed into her. Not wasting time, Gojira leapt again just in time to avoid another lightning strike from Sailor Jupiter. He flew high through the air and landed with startling force behind the Senshi of Thunder, too late to realize he had been set for a trap as Sailor Mercury joined the fray with Sailor Jupiter running to Sailor Venus' aid.

"_Shine Aqua Illusion!_" Water flew from the blue senshi's hands and, upon impact, would have frozen Gojira in a solid block of ice had he not rolled out of the way and charged with a roar at Sailor Mercury. He hit her hard in the stomach and, grabbing her by the bow on her chest, tossed her back at Sailor Jupiter. The two Scouts collided and rolled for a few yards before stopping in a crumpled heap not far from where Sailor Venus lay still woozy and hurting from the Spectral System's tail swipe.

"Girls!" Sailor Moon cried before focusing on Gojira. "That's it! Prepare to be moon-dusted!" Taking her scepter in hand, she gathered power at its tip. Not to be outdone, Gojira reached down and activated the Collar.

"**_3. 2. 1. ZERO!_**" Nuclear energy shined in the spines on Gojira's back before flowing into his visor as the Spectral System's mouth opened wide, digging its saurian feet deep into the earth for a battle of dominance.

"_Moon Princess Halation!_" cried Sailor Moon, unleashing a lunar shape disc of power with magical might focused as a beam driving it forward.

"_Atomic Fire!_" roared Gojira, falling into temptation as he gave name to his earlier attack revitalized with greater power than before. Nuclear energy shot forth and met Sailor Moon's attack head-on, the two energies colliding with massive force. The two powerful forces struggled against each other, one made entirely of magic, the other of the power wrought from science. Such opposite powers could not stay in contact for long such as they were; especially not when Gojira's attack began to drive Sailor Moon's own back towards her. The energies could stand each other no more and exploded violently in with a deafening explosion of intermixed energies.

Sailor Moon flew and fell hard on her back just as the light of the Imperium Crystal hidden beneath her brooch flickered and died before it fell free from her chest. With a flash of energy ribbons, Sailor Moon reverted back to her human self, a mere teenage girl named Usagi Tsukino. Opposite her, Gojira stood completely uninjured from the blast though his eyes stung from the intensity of the lightshow they would heal soon enough. The Spirit Rizer was well over three-quarters the way back to its original position on his belt; he had spent far more energy against Sailor Moon's attack than he had expected.

Rei stared in complete and utter disbelief, an emotion shared by the other Sailor Senshi as they, like her, were frozen in shock by what they had just seen. One man had single-handedly dealt with the strongest attack in their arsenal

Usagi frantically tried to hide her face but it was well too late. Gojira's eyes had healed and he had seen her and nothing she could try and do would make him forget it. He turned away in disgust, not able to stand the sight of such weakness. He glanced to his right and saw the priestess now on her feet though she was using the wall for support.

Slowly, almost unwillingly, Gojira turned his attention back towards Usagi. "… The First One once said, _"It's easier to make enemies than it is to make friends."_ Though I do not consider myself your enemy, don't presume to call me your friend. The five of you have a long way to go before we can consider ourselves as allies…" With nothing more to say and fearing for what he might unknowingly reveal, Gojira leapt up to the top of the barrier wall before disappearing out of sight.

Hidden away in the underbrush, Luna and Artemis shared a concerned look for though the girls hadn't yet realized, the two cats heard Gojira's words clearly. The _five_ of them… which meant that Gojira knew that Rei Hino and Sailor Mars were one and the same and, worse yet, the armored warrior also recognized Sailor Moon's civilian identity. Out of the many questions that plagued the two cats, it was the simplest one that spoke the loudest.

_How?_

* * *

The young man sat alone in the foyer of the largest house on the street, a mansion some would say. He was dressed for relaxation with a golden robe tied over the dark grays of casual slacks and a plain white shirt, his black locks tipped in shades of yellow brushed back from his eyes and falling to the lower nape of his neck. By his build, both in his size and his facial structure, he was not fully Japanese but where his other parentage came from it was hard to tell. Though he is young, barely past eighteenth year, he seemed almost older if only by the way he carried himself, the kind of tiredness born from experience.

He leaned back in his chair, idly twirling a glass full of a dark red liquid that seemed to absorb the light and fill the room with a thick coppery stench. He took a long drink and sighed with relief, the tenseness in his shoulders loosening before slightly pointed ears twitched and shining amber eyes opened to watch the door.

His name is Niko Kazuki and he is amused.

A key slid into place, buttons pressed in their necessary sequence, the faint hum of electricity and various mechanics working their wonders as they scanned, analyzed, and accepted the person trying to gain entry. Locks undone, security measures deactivating one at a time before the door opened and a familiar figure entered into the foyer.

"Tanaka." Eiji paused, the doorknob still clutched in his hand.

"Kazuki." He answered back, shutting the door carefully lest he wake anyone else. The last thing he needed was one of the others giving him a hard time. He supposed he was lucky that it was Niko who was relaxing in the foyer while the others were likely busy with their own affairs. Eiji's nose crinkled at the stench of the other boy's drink. "Blood now, Kazuki?"

"Nice and pork flavored," Niko sneered. "Forgive me oh mighty king that a mere peon such as I cannot manage the same standards as you."

Eiji ignored the bait of an old argument between them and glanced about the room. "The others?"

Niko sighed, sad that his game was spoiled before it even had chance to be played. "All doing their own affairs though I'm sure they'll be as delighted as me when they hear of your change of heart."

Eiji wasn't surprised that Niko knew but was curious to the his words. "What's there to be delighted about exactly?"

"Why isn't it obvious, my liege?" Niko's sneer grew into a terrifying grin, an electric glow coming to his eyes. "We get to fight!"

"I will not ask them to fight. If they choose not to, I will not press them." Eiji said.

"Do you think it that simple, Tanaka? We were bred to fight, to kill! We cannot live in peace so we make our lives with war!" Niko chugged the last of his drink and rose swiftly to his feet. "You may be eager to die in your bed but I'll sooner die on my feet fighting!"

A reddened gleam came to Eiji's eyes and Niko grinned, at long last getting the reaction he sought. "Is that what you think…?" The air was growing hotter by the second and Niko's grin was turning psychotic as the lights flickered with a sudden surge of power, droplets of blood in his cup floating upwards as gravity suddenly turned on its head.

"Do it. Do it, I want you to do it. Hit me. Fight me! KILL ME!"

And just like that, the gleam was gone and the air started to cool once more.

"You can die on your feet, Niko. I'll grant you that, but I will not be your executioner." Eiji turned away from Niko and started on his way towards his room, heedless of the baleful glare sent his way by the golden-eyed boy.

"I may die on my feet, king… but I will not die alone."

* * *

**In the next dream...**

_"The Shield"_


End file.
